The field of the invention generally relates to air conditioners, and more particularly relates to a package terminal air conditioner having a blower and heater module that is removable intact for servicing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,223 describes a package terminal air conditioner that has been sold commercially. The unit includes a partition that divides the interior of the housing into an indoor section and an outdoor section. Conventionally, the outdoor section includes a condenser, compressor, and propeller fan that directs air through the condenser. The indoor section has a laterally aligned cross-flow fan that provides very quiet operation. The evaporator or indoor coil is positioned in front of the cross-flow blower wheel, and in operation, air is drawn by the wheel in through the evaporator where it is cooled before being expelled back into the room. When operating in a heating mode, an electric heating element positioned below the blower wheel is activated instead of the evaporator.
In the above-described unit, the partition also serves as the scroll portion of the cross-flow fan, in addition to dividing the unit into indoor and outdoor sections. With such arrangement, the cross-flow blower wheel is initially assembled to the partition so as to retain the proper clearance between the blower wheel and the scroll. Accordingly, maximum air flow is provided while still maintaining enough clearance to minimize noise.
The above-described air conditioning unit also has a significant drawback in that it is difficult to disassemble for servicing such parts as the cross-flow blower wheel, the motor, and the heating element. For example, to access the cross-flow blower wheel, a bearing plate attached to the left end panel is first removed, and then the control panel is removed so as to expose the motor and remove set screws attaching it to the shaft of the blower wheel. Finally, the cross-flow blower wheel is removed to the side through the hole in the end panel created by removing the bearing plate. The motor is even more difficult to remove or replace because, after performing all of the above-described steps required to remove the cross-flow blower wheel, screws securing the motor to a panel intermediate the wheel and the motor are removed. The heating element is located below the cross-flow blower wheel, so the wheel also has to be removed before accessing the heater element. Then, the heating element is connected using fastening apparatus that are difficult to access.